


Unintentionally

by Ottermouse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 14:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7466478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ottermouse/pseuds/Ottermouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Keith is an oblivious idiot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unintentionally

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the wonderful [lordzuuko](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lordzuuko)

It was Lance who found them first.

He had entered the lounge in hopes of getting some nap time in, before realizing that his two teammates had already beaten him to it.

"Oh... my... _goodness_." A wide smile spread across the blue paladin's face as he rubbed his hands together in excitement. He turned and ran out of the room, cackling to himself, and nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned the corner.

Luckily, everyone else appeared to have gathered at the command room, and Lance was easily able to get their attention.

"Hey, everybody!" he yelled as soon as they were all in sight. They paused their conversation and looked at him.

"What is it Lance? You're completely out of breath, has something terrible happened?" Allura asked, concerned.

"No," he panted, hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath. "But you _gotta_ see this."

* * *

“Oh dear…” Coran placed his hand over his mouth as he looked at the couple on the couch.

The group of five were gathered at the lounge’s doorway. Lance pointed out the scene he’d come upon earlier, arms crossed and face glowing with mischievous intent.

There, on the long couch, were Shiro and Keith. Both fast asleep, completely unaware of their audience.

Shiro’s body was lying face up, his Galra arm hanging off the couch, fingers brushing against the floor and the other wrapped around Keith. Keith was lying nearly on top of him, his head was buried in Shiro’s chest, one arm around his waist. His legs were deeply entangled with Shiro’s, the rest of his body pressed up against the back of the couch.

They looked surprisingly peaceful.

“Aww, aren’t they adorable?” Allura clasped her hands in front of her and one could almost see flowers and sparkles dancing around her head.

“I don’t really see what the big deal is,” Pidge said, unamused.

“W-what? You don’t-” Hunk sputtered. “They’re _cuddling!_ ” The green paladin did his best to yell as quietly as he could to his teammate.

Pidge’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, like it isn’t something I haven’t seen before.”

“Wait- what?!”

“Ooh, what a wonderful display of bonding between paladins! Gonna grab my estalt! Be right back!” Coran chattered gleefully before running out of the room.

“Estalt?” Lance asked, confused.

“It is a device that takes pictures.” Allura explained.

“Like a camera!”

“A what?”

“...Nevermind.”

Coran returned quickly with his picture-taking device. He aimed its thin rectangular surface towards the sleeping pair, snapping a few frames. Suddenly, Keith shifted, causing everyone to freeze and hold their breaths. The boy wiggled and stretched out a bit before pressing his body closer to Shiro’s. The hand across his stomach moved to bury itself between Shiro’s upper back and the couch cushions. He let out a small sigh, and then stilled.

“Awww,” everyone cooed in unison.

“Hey, I know what we should do!” Lance exclaimed, causing everyone to turn their heads towards him. The smile that was on his face told them that this was going to be good.

“The Ultimate Humiliation: a group selfie.”

* * *

Keith slowly blinked his eyes open. His tongue felt thick and tasted terrible, and there was a fog covering his mind. He pushed himself so he was sitting up, rubbing his eyes while taking in his surroundings. He was alone in the lounge. How long had he been asleep? He still needed to learn how to read Altean clocks.

After a yawn and a stretch, he got up, planning on going to the bathroom to wash out the horrible taste in his mouth and wake himself up a bit.

“Oh, hey Keith,” he passed by Lance in the hall, who gave him a small wave.

“Hey.” Something felt off about the other, but the red paladin couldn’t quite put his finger on it. His walk had more swagger to it than usual and his tone seemed almost… _condescending_?

Lance placed his hand against the wall, blocking Keith’s path. His other hand sat on his hip and he leaned in towards the other boy. “So… how’s Shiro?”

“Huh? How should I know?” Keith furrowed his eyebrows.

“I dunno,” Lance shrugged casually and turned his head, pretending to examine the nails on his other hand. “You two seem so close and all.”

“He’s our leader. He’s close with everyone.”

“You _suuuuuure?_ ” he snickered, raising an eyebrow.

Keith took a step back. “Okay, you’re acting weird, even for you. I’m gonna go now.”

Lance took his hand off the wall and brought both up in defense. “Alright, alright.”

Keith walked around him.

“Say hi to Shiro for me!”

 _We live in the same fucking ship we see each other all the time, what would be the point of that?_ Keith wanted to yell at the other, but he took in a deep breath, clenched his fists and continued on his way. Shiro had been teaching him some mental and meditation techniques to help him control his anger. Which reminded him, they needed to schedule their next yoga practice. They’d been slacking on that recently.

In the bathroom, he made a beeline to the sink and gargled his mouth out with water. He splashed some on his face as well. He nearly left with the towel in his hands but quickly turned back and put it on its hanger.

He ran into Hunk and Pidge on his way out. They were carrying some tech-looking things that Keith was unfamiliar with.

“What’s all that stuff for?”

“Wha-askljdfh,” Hunk flubbed, jumping in the air and nearly dropping the large machine in his hands. “Oh, hey Shir- I mean _Keith_! Funny running into you here!” He let out a very awkward, obviously forced laugh.

Pidge elbowed his side and glared at him. “Hey, be careful with that!” The green paladin turned towards Keith. “Gonna see if any of this helps me analyze that Galra crystal. Still trying to work out a way to make it useful for us.”

“Oh, good luck then.” Keith knew any help he could offer would be more of a hindrance.

“Thanks, we’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, catch ya later!” The two continued on their way. Keith could hear snippets of words as they left.

“Acting… stop it…”

“... sorry… nervous… say something?”

Keith frowned again, unsure of what to make of it. He continued to his room, quickly checking to make sure everything was in order, then grabbed his bayard.

_Might as well clock in some training time since I’ve got my energy back._

He changed into his workout clothes in the locker room, tying his hair back into a small ponytail before opening the door to see that someone else was already using the sparring bots.

Keith stood in awe. Watching Shiro practice was like watching a professional dancer. Beautiful and graceful, but also strong and powerful.

He easily blocked the dummy’s swing before sliding across the floor, twisting his leg to sweep under the dummy’s feet, causing it to trip. As it stumbled forward, Shiro pushed himself up, turning so that he could slice the dummy in half. The program dissipated, leaving the paladin on the floor panting heavily.

Keith felt a shiver run down his spine. Watching Shiro was exhilarating. Admittedly, it wasn’t just that Shiro was _good_ that made him a sight to see, but that he radiated a kind of fierceness and tenacity that… really turned Keith on. Not to mention those grunts he made.

“End training sequence.” Shiro’s voice rang throughout the room. The red paladin blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts, and realized that his leader was staring right at him.

“Sorry, have you been waiting long?” He grabbed a towel that was folded on the ground and began to wipe his neck.

“Uhh, no, I just got here,” Keith replied, unable to keep his eyes off where the towel was rubbing. “Ah, what level what that one?”

“Five.”

“Five? Damn, I can barely get myself through three,” Keith looked off to the side, frowning.

“Hey, you’ll get there.” A large hand clasped itself on Keith’s shoulder, a soft smile greeting him when he looked up. “We all have different combat experiences, so don’t compare yourself to someone who’s had more training than you.”

“T-thanks.” Keith returned the smile.

The two stood still, neither moving, until Shiro cleared his throat and vaguely gestured at the door.

“Oh, right!” Keith moved so that he was no longer blocking the exit. The two parted, but just before he was about to begin his training, Keith remembered something.

“Shiro!” he called out. The man in question popped his head back into the room.

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering when you’re free for yoga?”

“Oh, right… uh, gimme a bit, I gotta check on some things, but I’ll let you know soon,” Shiro promised.

“Alright.”

The black paladin began retreating, but he hesitated. “Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Is everything good between us?”

Keith scrunched up his face. “Of course, why would you ask that?”

“I mean, just, earlier…” Shiro scratched his neck.

“What happened earlier?” Keith was genuinely confused.

“Huh? Uh, no, it’s not important, I won’t keep you any longer.” He disappeared behind the door before Keith could say goodbye.

 _What was that about?_ he wondered. _Did I do something that made him uncomfortable? Was it the yoga practice? It must have been the yoga practice. Ugh, he’s probably used to doing it on his own and me being there just makes him feel weird._ He started the training program and activated his bayard, holding the blade in front of him.

_I’ll talk to him about it later. For now, time to fight._

* * *

Keith dried his face using a fluffy towel. If there was one thing he appreciated about Altean tech, it was how they were able to make such soft fabric.

He was feeling refreshed and rejuvenated after his workout. The shower had also been quite relaxing. He’d just barely been able to defeat the level three bot, and it had taken all of his energy to do so.

He slipped back into his regular clothes and made his way to the kitchen. The exercise had his stomach growling up a storm, begging for substance. He hoped that he’d be able to find one thing in there that wasn’t green and mushy.

Turns out there were two things.

Coran and Allura were standing next to each other, chattering away as the advisor was mixing something in a bowl.

“Keith!” Allura greeted as the door slid shut.

“Keith! Perfect timing!” Coran exclaimed before the paladin could get in a word. “I need someone with a clean palette to taste test this for me.” He lifted the mixing spoon, indicating the (unsurprisingly) green contents.

“Uh, ummm,” Keith backed up against the door, attempting to think up an excuse. But he was unable to escape this fate, as Coran easily crossed the floor to him, shoving the spoon into his mouth. As much as the intrusion was unwelcome, Keith had to admit that whatever it was was pretty good. He gave Coran a thumbs up. _Now_ please _take this thing out of my mouth._

“That’s wonderful!” Coran yelled, pulling the spoon out and sticking it back into the bowl. Keith winced.

“Oh, since you’re here,” Allura walked towards Keith and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Is there something you’d like to tell us?”

“Yeah, I came here looking for a snack, do you have anything that isn’t, uh, _that?_ ” As tasty as the green goo was, you could only eat so much before you got tired of it.

It obviously wasn’t the answer she was expecting, judging by how the bright smile on her face flickered for a moment.

“Yes, of course! But really, if there is ever anything you’d like to tell us, _anything at all_ ,” Allura leaned in uncomfortably close to Keith. “We’ll listen. Even if it’s about one of your _fellow paladins_.” Her eyebrows were wiggling so furiously that he thought they were going to wiggle themselves right off her forehead.

He backed away slowly. _Okay, so she’s trying to get something out of me, but I have no idea what she’s talking about._

Keith opened a few cabinets before grabbing what appeared to be a brightly colored fruit and bit into it. He leaned against the wall, eating it and thinking. He wiped the juice dripping down his chin with the back of his sleeve. “Actually, could you let me use the castle’s speaker system? I want to hold a meeting with everybody.”

* * *

“Hey everyone.” Keith stood by the center console of the command room.

The other six were standing in a semi-circle in front of him.

“This may seem trivial and not related to our mission, but we promised no secrets, so I have to ask: Is it just me or have you all been acting oddly today? Because I have no idea what I did, and I would appreciate it if you could tell me.”

He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, making eye contact with every person in the room as he waited for someone to answer. A few refused to meet his gaze, a few others were visibly sweating.

“You sure there isn’t something you want to tell _us_ first?” Lance raised an eyebrow, sly smile across his face. He walked up and slung an arm around Keith’s shoulders, leaning so he could whisper in one ear. “Maybe something to do with you and Shiro?”

Keith’s eyes grew wide and he shoved Lance away as hard as he could. “ _THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! WHY DO YOU ALL KEEP ASKING ME ABOUT SHIRO?!_ ” He could feel his face burning up as he could no longer keep his frustration at bay.

Lance shook his head. “Okay, I was _hoping_ that we’d be able to use this later as blackmail-”

“Blackmail?!”

“-but it looks like we have no choice. Coran, can you hook up the thingamabob to the monitors?”

The Altean jumped excitedly. “Yes! Let me just… get the thing, plug it in here, open this- Tadaa!” Coran sweeped out his arms in a grand gesture.

“That’s a picture of Allura’s mice. What does that have to do with anything?”

Granted it was a pretty cute picture. The mice had fallen asleep stacked on top of each other like little pancakes.

Coran looked up. “Well, that’s not it.” He turned around, fiddled with the controls more, and a different image appeared on the screen.

The very large screen.

That took up most of the room.

So that everything displayed on it would be seen in beautiful high definition.

Keith wished that he was a turtle so that he could retreat into himself.

 _That_ , was photographic evidence of him and Shiro… cuddling. There was nothing he could do, no excuse he could make. The only option he had was to accept it.

“When… was this?” He had no memory of it, and was certain he’d never do it, but there it was, where everyone could see it.

“Earlier today,” Pidge piped up. “Lance is the one who found you two and called us all over.”

“ _All_ of you were there?!” There went his half-baked plan of claiming it had been a set up.

“If I remember correctly, we even have a- oh! There it is!” Coran flipped through more images until he came across a group photo.

Keith and Shiro were lying fast asleep in the center. The faces of everyone else, who for the most part were making silly faces or gestures, framed them.

Keith fell into a crouch, burying his head in his hands, embarrassed and trying to think. What had he been doing in the lounge before _that_? Where had Shiro been?

It flashed in his mind. He’d been sitting on one end of the couch, hunched over trying to beat some single-player Altean game Hunk had given to him. Shiro was sitting on the other side, legs on the cushions, filling up the space between them. He was looking through a book, as he had been trying to learn how to read Altean as of late. He would sound things out loud and mutter to himself, the words never quite reaching Keith but the sounds... Oh, he could listen to Shiro talk about _anything_ if it meant hearing his voice. His deep, beautiful, melodic voice that-

That was probably what lulled him to sleep in the first place. Which meant that it must’ve been Shiro who… He stood up suddenly.

“Could I speak with Keith in private?” Shiro’s voice spoke softly behind him.

“Absolutely,” Pidge said, grabbing Lance by the arm and all but dragging him out of the room.

One by one the others left, faces worried and uncertain, until only Allura remained.

“You know none of us mind if you two are in a relationship. In fact, it could actually work out in our favor what with the Lions and all-”

“Allura… please?” Shiro spoke so gently, Keith could feel his heart break. He didn’t want to be in the room by himself with someone who could do that to him so easily. But Allura left, and the two were alone.

“Keith…” When the other didn’t speak, Shiro walked up until they were standing side by side.

They stood quietly, not looking at each other.

“I’m sorry if this has all made you uncomfortable. Particularly with me.” Shiro hadn’t planned out anything to say, he just knew that he wanted to be honest with the other. “You fell asleep and I was just going to move you so you could lie down but something just felt so… familiar, and _right_ . I should’ve left you alone but I didn’t and I’m _sorry_.”

The silence persisted.

“Keith?” He glanced at the other, worried.

The red paladin was looking up. Up at the photo that was still being displayed. You could see Coran in the lower center, a wide smile on his face, though part of it was cut off. It appeared as if he was the one who took the picture. Allura was in the left corner next to him, holding up a peace sign (Lance must’ve told her to do it). In the upper left corner was the blue paladin himself, pointing at Keith and Shiro’s heads with both hands, a playful grin spread across his face. Pidge’s head was in the bottom right corner, holding two thumbs up with a completely straight face. Hunk was in the top right corner, in the same pose as Lance but using finger guns.

And in the middle of it all was the two of them.

Shiro on his back, Keith on his chest with one arm wrapped around the black paladin’s body. Eyes closed. Not a care in the world.

Shiro felt something brush against his Galra arm and looked down. Keith’s fingers were reaching out towards his, timidly linking just the tips together. Shiro took the initiative, clasping the other hand in his. The boy twitched, but then saw where their hands were intertwined. The quiet sound of a shuddering intake of breath could be heard.

“I really like you, Shiro,” he finally spoke.

“I really like you, too, Keith.”

He could feel every speck of doubt and fear and shame disappear, leaving behind in him a renewed energy.

They both turned their heads back to the monitor, hands together.

“I guess we should go tell them, huh?”

“Ehh… I think we’re fine. I mean, they _did_ figure it out before us.”

“True.”

**Author's Note:**

> I purposefully left it ambiguous who was speaking at the end. By that point, their connection has gone beyond words (´∀｀)♡  
> Also, if you would like a fun little visual, [here](http://paper-records.tumblr.com/post/147292474157/) is a drawing I did of the group selfie photo.


End file.
